"A group of artists who came to be known as the 'Northwest School' emerged in and around Seattle in the 1940s. Those who say no 'northwest School of art' ever really existed speak true. No formal group met in agreement; no manifesto was issued. Yet when the words 'Northwest School' are spoken, only a newcomer to the region may not know what is meant. The elusive nature of the School is in keeping with the spirit of the art itself. From the beginning, it defied definition. Four artists were brought to national attention by a 1953 article in Life magazine, titled 'Mystic Painters of the Northwest': Mark Toby, Morris Graves, Guy Anderson, and Kenneth Callahan." [Source: Ament, Deloris Tarzan. Iridescent light: the emergence of Northwest art. Seattle : University of Washington Press ; La Conner : Museum of Northwest Art, c2002]

Morris Graves was born in 1910 in Oregon, a year before his family moved to Seattle. He recalled that he was ten when he first felt a strong affinity to art. As a young adult, he traveled with his brother around the world, spending as much time as possible exploring Japan. This helped to make Asian aesthetics a presence in his art from the beginning. In 1935 Graves was offered his first solo exhibition at Seattle Art Museum. In the early 1940s, Graves began building a house on Fidalgo Island and worked part-time at Seattle Art Museum. Graves' final home was in Loleta, near Eureka, California, where he died May 5, 2001.